Global Innovation Index

Context

India has jumped four places on Global Innovation Index also retains the highest rank in Central and South Asia.

Background

Marking a major advancement amid the coronavirus pandemic, India has moved up four places to rank 48th in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2020 report. India retained the highest rank in the Central and Southern Asian region, followed by Iran, said the report. Moving up four positions since last year, India became the third most innovative middle-income economy in the world.

The innovation index shows year-on-year stability at the top, there is a gradual eastward shift in the locus of innovation as a group of Asian economies - notably, China, India, the Philippines and Vietnam -- have advanced considerably in the innovation ranking over the years.

Global Innovation Index

The index, compiled by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), along with Cornell University and the INSEAD Business School, presents the latest global innovation trends and annual innovation ranking of 131 economies.

It was published for the first time in 2007, since then it is published annually. It is considered a leading benchmarking tool for policymakers. The index is being used by them to evaluate progress of various policies on a continual basis.

In Detail

India increased the most in three pillars that are Institutions (61, from 77 in 2019), business sophistication (55, from 65 in 2019), and creative outputs (64, from 78 in 2019). Under institutions, the country’s rank on indicators, such as political and operational stability (from 91 to 83), government effectiveness (from 65 to 55), and ease of resolving insolvency (from 95 to 47), improved remarkably.

The report titled ‘Who Will Finance Innovation?’ mentioned gross domestic expenditure on research and development (GERD) in India increased to $63.2 billion in purchasing power parity terms in 2017–2018, from $50.3 billion in 2014–2015, accounting for 2.9-per cent share in the world.

Under business sophistication indicators such as expenditure financed by business was not available last year, this time India came in at 48. India also bettered its rank in both intellectual property payments (27, from 29 in 2019) and research talent (38, from 46 in 2019).

Under creative outputs, India increased its ranking by a combination of performance improvements and model changes. It gained 18 places in cultural and creative services exports to 21 and it ranked 31 on the new indicator on global brands.

Role of NITI Aayog

The GII statement mentioned that NITI Aayog has been working tirelessly to ensure optimisation of national efforts in this direction by bringing policy-led innovation in different areas such as electric vehicles, biotechnology, nanotechnology, space and alternative energy sources.

India Innovation Index

The India Innovation Index, released by the NITI Aayog, has been widely accepted as a major step in the direction of decentralisation of innovation across all states of the country.

Conclusion

While India improved in the GII ranking, some relative weaknesses still persist. These include Environmental performance, New businesses, and Entertainment and media market, specified by the report.

India continued to lag in infrastructure, even as it moved up four notches to come in at 75, from 79 in 2019. Simultaneously, it lost seven places to move down to 60 in human capital and research, from 53 in 2019.

Also, Vietnam continued to leave India behind by coming in at 42, topping the list of lower middle-income group. Ukraine came in second, improving its ranking to 45, from 47 in 2019.

Hence it can be concluded that there is a lot more to done, especially on the infrastructure side, as it can provide base to all relevant sectors.

Connecting the Article

Question for Prelims

The Global Innovation Index is released by

(a) World Intellectual Property Organization
(b) World Bank
(c) International Monetary Fund
(d) None of these

Question for Mains

Global rankings by the various organizations provide the real picture of the government policies and their implementation on ground. Critically examine.